For months, Tim Pernetti stood by Mike Rice. Friday, he fell with the former coach, forced to resign as Rutgers’ athletic director following the unrelenting furor over the release of footage capturing Rice’s shocking physical and verbal abuse of players.

Pernetti, who hired Rice in 2010 and fired him on Wednesday, one day after ESPN broadcast the compilation of cruelty, has been demonized for only handing out a three-game slap-on-the-wrist suspension in December.

The 42-year-old claimed yesterday in a resignation letter he wanted to “fire [Rice] immediately” upon seeing the video, but a consensus of university officials overruled his original instinct, believing the suspension was sufficient.

Nevertheless, less than one month ago, Pernetti gave Rice a vote of confidence to return as coach next season. As recently as Tuesday, after the immediate release of the tape, Pernetti said it merely was a “first offense” and no further action would be taken barring future incidents.

Ultimately, that cost Pernetti his job, though Rutgers president Dr. Robert Barchi said it was a “mutual decision” the two came to after hours of discussion in recent days.

“Unfortunately for many of us at the pinnacle of our particular leadership enterprises it’s not so much what you’ve done in the past as that one major decision that influences whether you can or can’t lead,” Barchi said at a circus-like press conference at Rutgers’ New Brunswick campus yesterday. “As Tim acknowledged Wednesday, his decision to rehabilitate and not fire Coach Rice was wrong.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie backed Barchi’s decision, saying in a statement it was “appropriate and necessary given the events of the past six months.”

Pernetti was the latest casualty of the scandal, joining Rice, who because he was not fired for cause is entitled to 75 percent of his remaining guaranteed compensation, or $1.0875 million over two years; assistant coach Jim Martelli, who also was seen on film shoving a player, and Rutgers’ interim senior vice president and general counsel, John B. Wolf, who stepped down and was believed to have recommended against firing Rice in December.

“It’s a really sad day for a lot of people, including me and my family,” Pernetti said outside his Oakland home, according to a published report. “I always have and I always will, no matter what, want what’s best for Rutgers.”

Though Pernetti had the backing of athletes and influential boosters, more than 50 Rutgers faculty members signed a petition calling for his dismissal over his handling of the Rice situation. Barchi, just eight months on the job, described it as a “failure of process,” though in the report, under the heading of “Recommendation,” the investigation found “sufficient evidence” that Rice’s actions did “cross the line.”

Barchi, whose employment has come under question and alternated during the hour-long press conference between looking uncomfortable and dodging pointed questions, declared ignorance, saying though he knew of the tape’s existence in November, just two months after taking the job, he did not see the contents of the video until Tuesday night.

“I can’t answer exactly why I didn’t [watch the tape],” he said. “I can only say in retrospect I sure wish I had.”

Ralph Izzo, chairman of the school’s board of governors, which has the power to relieve Barchi of his duties, called him “the right person to run this place for many years to come,” and supported Barchi yielding to the consenting opinion at the time. When he finally got around to watching the video Tuesday, he immediately ordered Rice’s dismissal.

“I regret that I did not ask to see the video when Tim first told me of its existence because I am certain that this situation would have had a very different outcome had I done so,” Barchi said. “I was deeply disturbed by the behavior the video revealed, which was much more abusive and pervasive then I understood it to be.”

Close to a hundred media members attended the press conference at Winants Hall, adding to the wild circumstances of the last week. Students lined up outside, many of them voicing their displeasure with the decision. One cameraman was hit with a water balloon.

Pernetti, who took the position in 2009 after several years as a television executive, was a former tight end for the Scarlet Knights. After making Rice his first major hire, Pernetti helped the school escape the floundering Big East and latch onto the financially robust Big Ten, where the school will play beginning in 2014. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told the Chicago Tribune the controversy won’t impact Rutgers’ membership in the conference.

Pernetti won’t reap the benefits of the megabucks move, but Rutgers still will.